Kalitta Air is the previously undisclosed customer behind an order for eight Airbus A350F freighters, Air Cargo News reports.

Airbus had listed the commitment against an unnamed buyer, a routine practice for customers that prefer to control disclosure of fleet decisions. If confirmed, the deal would make Kalitta Air a new freighter operator on the A350 program and one of the more significant cargo customers for the type in the US market.

Who is Kalitta Air?

Kalitta Air, based at Willow Run Airport near Detroit, Michigan, operates a widebody cargo fleet built around Boeing equipment and serves heavy charter and contract cargo flying, including work for the US military and integrated express carriers. The operator has not previously flown Airbus freighters, which would make a reported A350F commitment a notable fleet shift.

What would the A350F bring?

The A350F is Airbus's purpose-built next-generation freighter, derived from the A350 passenger family. Airbus positions the aircraft as offering lower fuel burn and operating costs than current-generation freighters of comparable size.

For an operator like Kalitta, the type would offer a path to replacing older widebody freighters and competing for contracts that increasingly weight fuel efficiency and emissions performance. Airbus has not confirmed the identity of the customer, and the order remains attributed to an undisclosed buyer in its public order records.

Why does the disclosure matter?

Identifying the customer changes how the order reads against the A350F's backlog. An established US all-cargo operator committing to the type signals penetration into a freighter market long dominated by Boeing's 767F, 777F and converted widebody freighters.

It also raises questions about fleet planning at Kalitta: whether the eight aircraft would replace existing types, support expansion of scheduled and charter operations, or position the carrier for contract renewals where newer metal is a competitive factor.

Neither Kalitta Air nor Airbus has publicly confirmed the report, and the transaction carries no announced delivery schedule in the public record. Confirmation, when it comes, would likely arrive through Airbus's monthly order and delivery disclosures or an operator announcement.